Enjoy the gift of life while you can

“Hurry up Sweetie!” the mother hurriedly woke up her little kid and got her ready for school. As the little one was relishing her breakfast, the mother asked her to hurry up so she could drop her at the bus stop.

After dropping her, the lady hurriedly made way to the office. She was a single mother, who had to make ends meet so she could give a decent, comfortable life to her little daughter. In the evening, she picked up her daughter and started walking towards home. It started to rain and the little one was having fun splashing water.

The mother grabbed her into her arms and carried her along with the school bag. They reached home before it started raining heavily. The lady made some stew for both of them. The little one took small gulps, stopped and started talking about her day at school.

Realising that it was getting late, the mother grabbed the bowl from the girl and told her, “You need to have your dinner fast, sleep early so that you can wake up in time and reach the bus stop before the school bus arrives.”

The little girl was not too happy about sleeping early and wanted to hear some stories from the mother. The mother picked up a storybook and read a story for the little one. Still unhappy about this deal, the little one requested for another story. But the mother told her, there was no time for another story as it was time to sleep.

One day the mother came excitedly to pick her daughter from the school. She hugged her daughter, picked her up and straight dashed to an ice cream parlour. The little one asked the mother why they are having an ice-cream, to which the mother said that she got a promotion and wanted to celebrate this special moment with her daughter.

The daughter did not understand what a promotion meant, but all she cared was the ice- cream, that too on an unexpected evening. As she was relishing the ice-cream, she paused and worriedly asked her mother, “Mommy, do I need to hurry up and eat the ice-cream so we can get back home soon or …?”

The mother was shattered, she never realised until now what her little daughter went through every time, she rushed her to finish things fast. So are our lives, sometimes we run so fast that we don’t realise what we are missing in life.

Don’t rush on anything, when the time is right, it will happen: There are times when we try to run very fast to get somewhere, not realising the fun of getting there. Life is not a race. What matters are the moments and experiences and not the speed.

Life has no replay, rewind or fast forward button so enjoy moments as they come: Life can go faster than you can imagine. If you are busy thinking about your past or planning for your future, you miss the very opportunity of living your life today. So, pause, reflect and move on.

Happiness is a choice you make: Life is a mixture of good and bad.

Good things can give you joy and contentment. Bad things can give you experience and inspiration. Results are always driven by your actions and many other uncontrollable factors. But in all this happiness is a choice you make. So make a wise choice, be happy.